Byzantine Gold Hoard comes to ANS Exhibit

by Pamala Plummer-Wright

On January 14, 2003, The American Numismatic Society in conjunction with the Israel Antiquities Authority will open the exhibition Gold from Israel. A Hoard of Byzantine Solidi from Bet She’an (see feature article).

The special travel exhibition will be on view at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York until May 15, 2002. Coins and other objects uncovered in the excavations will be shown along with the ANS existing exhibition, Drachmas, Doubloons and Dollars: The History Of Money.

The exhibition of the Byzantine Gold Hoard at the Field Museum in Chicago

During salvage excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority a pot containing 751 Byzantine gold coins was uncovered under the floor of a residential house in a complex in the Jordan Valley, Israel. The housing complex dates to the Umayyad period. This is the largest gold hoard from this period ever published, with an approximate weight of 3.4 kg of gold. The gold hoard will be installed in a new special exhibition area. It was previously shown at the Field Museum in Chicago and will open in the early summer at the San Francisco Museum of Art.

The cases that are being built for the exhibition will remain part of the ANS/Fed installation. The ANS plans to use them for further special exhibitions, such as traveling shows from other museums or presenting research of ANS staff. Furthermore, the ANS hopes to make them available for ANS members’ exhibitions. This creates a highly desirable opportunity for ANS members to have the access and opportunity to exhibit their unique collections of books, coins, medals and other numismatic objects. Any member interested in this plan should contact Pamala Plummer-Wright, the Director of Development.

You can see Gold from Israel. A Hoard of Byzantine Solidi from Bet She’an at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 33 Liberty Street, New York City, from Monday through Friday, 10 am to 4 pm, free of charge.

The exhibition of the Byzantine Gold Hoard at the Field Museum in Chicago